


A Stray Under the Stars

by phoenixreal



Series: Stray Cat Finds a Home [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Eating Disorders, FWUCollections, M/M, Outdoor Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 13:43:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18367193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal
Summary: Grimmjow wants to have a nice picnic under the stars, but will things work out the way he has planned?





	A Stray Under the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [FWU_2019_Mar_Under_the_Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FWU_2019_Mar_Under_the_Stars) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Stargazing.

* * *

 

“A picnic under the stars?” Ichigo asked curiously.

“Yeah, you’ve been doing so good lately with everything that I want to do something special. No real reason,” Grimmjow responded as they came into their apartment.

It had been over a month since everything came out at Valentine’s Day. They had talked a lot over the next week, and Ichigo acknowledged he had a problem and needed to do something about it. It hadn’t gotten all better, of course. Just knowing what the problem was didn’t fix it. Grimmjow began keeping track of what Ichigo ate, but for a different reason than he did. He also knew almost immediately when he was lying about eating something. Ichigo had a hard time keeping it out of his face.

Grimmjow had insisted on Ichigo sticking to a strict eating schedule. He still tried to put eating off, or tried to avoid it altogether, but Grimmjow wouldn’t let him get away with it for long. It was a struggle to get him to stop counting the calories in everything that he ate, and Grimmjow knew he was still keeping track of it no matter what he said. He hadn’t convinced him to go see a therapist yet, though. That was the one area Ichigo hadn’t budged. He claimed to not need anyone. Grimmjow thought differently, but he was going to give him a chance to work through things on his own before he insisted on outside help.

“I think you just want to have sex outside,” Ichigo said as he sat down on the bed and crossed his arms.

“Now, why would you say something like that?” he asked as he walked over and cupped his face.

“Everything with you leads to sex.” Ichigo arched a brow at him.

Grimmjow sighed and shook his head. “I’m not planning on having sex outside, if you must know. Now, when we get back home, I can’t make any guarentees.”

Ichigo sighed. “I don’t know,” he muttered, looking away. Grimmjow could already see him mentally calculating what foods they were going to take to see if he’d eat.

“Look, we can invite Rukia and Renji and make a night of it. And didn’t you say your friend Uryū finally asked the girl with the big boobs that likes you out?” Grimmjow asked, stroking his thumb across Ichigo’s chin.

Sighing, Ichigo knew he couldn’t say no to that face when he was asking like that. “Yeah, Uryū finally asked her. I guess he never asked her because he thought he would be getting between her and me, but when we got together, he decided that wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

“See, there, wouldn’t it be nice to go out for a nice evening with them? We haven’t done anything like that before. And you’ve been doing a good job sticking to your food schedule,” Grimmjow pointed out, standing up straight and putting his hands on his hips.

Ichigo looked up and him and gave him a small smile. “If you really want to, I can ask Uryū and Rukia if they’re interested in doing something like that. I’m meeting Rukia for a study session tomorrow afternoon after class. I can talk to her then and text Uryū.”

Grimmjow leaned over and kissed his head and undressed to crawl into bed. It had been a busy day, and both of them were tired. Grimmjow, though, worried as Ichigo fell asleep in his arms. His fingers slid down his sides where his ribs were still too pronounced, and his hips where the bones jutted out a bit too much. He was scared, to be honest. He loved him too much to watch him destroy himself.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo honestly forgot. It wasn’t on purpose. He just forgot to eat before he left the apartment with Grimmjow. They’d gotten up late, both sleeping through the alarm on Grimmjow’s phone. Luckily, Rukia had called Ichigo to make sure they were still on for studying that day, and he woke up. They weren’t too late, so it was no harm, except of course, Ichigo didn’t have breakfast before he left. Even Grimmjow, being as rushed as he was, didn’t think of it as they got out the door as quickly as possible.

Then, at lunch, he thought about eating. In fact, he had a text from Grimmjow reminding him that he needed to get lunch since they both missed breakfast. He had been about to do it, but then he got a text back from Uryū about the nighttime picnic, and it distracted him. So, he just didn’t think about it at all. It wasn’t really on purpose.

After he’d arranged everything with Uryū and Orihime for the weekend, he just left to go meet Rukia. She was to pick him up and they were going to study at her house. He was just so used to going without eating that it didn’t really dawn on him that he’d completely skipped lunch now.

“Hey,” he said as he dropped into her car. “How’s it going?”

“Great. You bring your English books?” she asked as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Of course. Hard to study without them,” he said as he patted his bookbag.

“Grimmjow mind you taking off for the evening?”

“Nah, he was cool with it. Oh! That reminds me. Would you and Renji be up for a night picnic Saturday night?” he asked, smiling at her.

She glanced over and shrugged. “I’ll ask Renji, but I don’t think we’re doing anything Saturday.”

“Great, Uryū and Orihime are coming too, so it would be a cool outing for everyone.”

They pulled into the house and got out. It was then Ichigo realized he’d forgotten to eat. He’d gotten back on a schedule lately, so messing with it was starting to become noticeable. He thought about saying something to Rukia, but then figured they’d probably order pizza or something tonight, so it would be fine. He could wait until later to eat. He just wouldn’t tell Grimmjow about it since he even went to the trouble of reminding him of it.

They set about studying their English work as soon as they got settled in around the table in the dining room. It was one of the only classes he shared with Rukia, so they often studied together before big tests. This test was on imagery and meaning in poetry. Ichigo liked it alright, he just needed a little extra help with it sometimes. It was a couple hours later when he needed to use the bathroom. He hadn’t really drunk anything today either, he realized. He was about to turn and say something to Rukia when he stood up, but a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he felt the world fade out at the edges of his vision.

The next thing he knew he was on the floor looking up at Rukia’s concerned face. He blinked, feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges. “What happened?”

“Are you alright? You passed out!” she said, clinging to his arm.

He slowly sat up, shaking his head. “I haven’t done that in a while,” he muttered.

Rukia heard him. “You’ve passed out before?” she asked, shock apparent in her voice.

He winced, not meaning to have said something about it. “It’s just low blood sugar. I haven’t eaten today, and—”

“You haven’t eaten today?” she snapped at him.

“I got busy! I missed breakfast because we were late, and then Uryū texted me, and then it was time to meet with you, and I just didn’t think of it…” he trailed off, looking at her, a little embarrassed.

Grimmjow had talked to Rukia about what was going on, he knew. But he didn’t know how much she knew about it. She certainly wouldn’t know that Grimmjow had been keeping him on an eating schedule for the last couple of weeks.

“Well, stand up. You’re going to eat something now,” she said as she stood up herself.

“Alright, let me go to the bathroom first,” he said as he got to his feet a little shakily.

He stopped and stare at his face in the mirror and wondered if it was really as bad as Grimmjow was making it out to be. Surely losing a little weight wouldn’t hurt him. But passing out was kind of scary, he guessed. He’d never passed out in front of anyone else before. He shook his head and ran his hands through the orange locks on his head. He was just fine. It was just one time he forgot to eat. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

When he came out, Rukia was holding an apple out to him. “Here, eat this now, and we’re ordering something in for later.”

“It’s really not that much of a problem. I’m fine now,” he said, taking the apple tentatively.

Despite his promise to Grimmjow, he really didn’t feel like eating it. His brain automatically calculated that the average apple had around ninety-five calories give or take. He looked at it for a minute and then saw that Rukia was staring at him. He sighed, knowing if he didn’t eat it, she was going to be upset with him. He swallowed and took a bite out of it. She nodded to him once and led him back to the table.

“This is a bigger problem than you make it out to be, Ichigo,” she pointed out as she stared across the table at him.

“It’s really not,” he tried.

“Grimmjow said you were still trying to restrict your calories,” she commented, watching him as he ate the apple slowly.

He gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s not as bad as it was. I’m not doing it as much as I was before, so I’m getting better about it. Besides, there’s no harm in watching out how many calories I eat.”

“There’s a difference between watching how many calories you eat and nearly going without eating at all,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It was just an accident today, that’s all,” he said, putting the apple core down on the table.

“Ichigo, it’s never just an accident. You’ve set yourself up so you have an excuse not to eat when you can, haven’t you?” she gave him a hard look.

“I eat three times a day!” He frowned at her and crossed his own arms over his chest. He didn’t really want to discuss this any further, but he knew she wasn’t going to let it go easily.

She arched a brow at him. “Oh, and what do you eat?”

He looked at her and knew if he lied, she’d know, just like Grimmjow always did. “I eat enough.”

“You’re not telling the whole truth at all, and you know it. You’re still eating the absolute minimum to keep Grimmjow off your case, aren’t you?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

He glanced away from her face and bit down on his lip for a minute. “I eat something before I leave the apartment with Grimmjow. Something light because I don’t like to eat a lot in the morning. Then I eat something at the school, and I have something at home when I get back there in the evening.”

“But what are you eating, Ichigo?” she asked, still watching him carefully.

“Does it matter?” he asked, looking at her sharply.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “It matters a lot, Ichigo. You’re trying to keep Grimmjow from getting mad at you, so you’re eating _something_ , but it isn’t enough, whatever it is,” she told him.

He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. “I don’t know, Rukia. I’m doing everything I can to make it go away! I am! But… It’s just not working right.”

“That’s because you need some help, idiot,” she groused with a shake of her head. “You need to see a therapist or something.”

He looked at her and shook his head. “I don’t need a therapist. Grimmjow’s been trying to get me to see one, too, but I don’t need one.”

“Obviously, you’re struggling with this, Ichigo. Why not get some outside help?” she asked, putting a hand gently on his shoulder.

“I don’t know. I just… I don’t want to talk to some stranger, okay?” he said, sitting back up and staring up at the ceiling. “I can do this by myself.”

“You can’t, Ichigo. You’ve been trying for over a month and you’re not doing better than before. In fact, I think you’ve lost even more weight,” she huffed a sigh as she glared at him.

“Only five pounds,” he muttered, but cut his eyes up at her.

“Five pounds? Ichigo! You’re supposed to be gaining back the extra weight you’ve lost. You don’t need to be losing anymore!” she said, squeezing his shoulder with a frown.

“I can’t help it, Rukia! I’m trying, I really am!” he said, starting to get annoyed with her now. “Look, can we just study? I’m tired of talking about it.”

She looked at him for a minute, then shook her head. “Yeah, I guess. But you’re eating when I order pizza tonight, got it?”

“I will. I promise.”

Of course, when the pizza did come, Ichigo managed one piece before he was trying to say he was full and didn’t need anymore. All he could think about was how many calories were in each piece of pizza. It was only a pepperoni and cheese pizza, but still. He knew that each piece was about three hundred calories. Even though he’d only eaten an apple so far, he still couldn’t get past the idea of eating nearly six hundred calories if he ate two pieces of pizza.

“Stop thinking so hard and eat another piece, Ichigo,” Rukia said with a sigh.

Ichigo looked at her. “No, I’m really okay with one.”

“That’s not enough. I ate more than you and I’m half your size. You’re thinking about the calories in it, aren’t you?” she asked, crossing her arms at him and frowning.

“Well, it’s a lot at one sitting, you know. At one time. I mean, it’s half a day’s calories just in a couple pieces, and—”

“Half a day’s calories?” she interrupted. “Ichigo, you haven’t even eaten the other half of your calories for the day yet.”

He looked at her again, swallowing. “Look, it’s enough. I don’t want any more.”

“Fine, but I’m telling Grimmjow you passed out today,” she said, standing up and taking the pizza box to the fridge.

“No!” he nearly shouted as he stood up to follow her. “You don’t have to do that!”

“Ichigo, he should know something like that,” she told him as she came back.

“Please, he doesn’t have to know!” he tried.

Rukia shook her head as she went toward the door to grab her jacket. “Come on, I’m taking you home. It’s late,” she said.

Ichigo grabbed his bag and went to the car with her. He was sullen all the way back to the apartment, staring out the side window at the world moving past them. He knew that she meant well, but he just didn’t need any help. And now Grimmjow was going to be mad at him. He sighed as they pulled into the complex and looked at her.

“I won’t tell him,” she said, looking at him. “As long as you promise not to let it happen again.”

“I promise, alright?” he said, smiling at her, glad that she wasn’t going to tell Grimmjow after all.

She shook her head as he got out of the car to go in. He waved at her and headed up the stairs to the apartment.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Grimmjow had a feeling Ichigo wasn’t telling him something. It was just a niggling at his brain, but he knew Ichigo by now, and he knew that guilty face he got every once in a while. He also knew that he couldn’t keep it from him forever and he’d find out what he was hiding. By the time Saturday came, he was still sure there was something he wasn’t telling him.

“Are we meeting everyone at the camping ground?” Ichigo asked as he packed some water bottles into his bag.

“Yeah, Renji texted me and said they were picking up Orihime and Uryū on the way, so they’ll come together,” he said as he slipped his phone into his pocket. “You think you got enough?”

Ichigo looked. He’d stuck five bottles of water in the bag. “Oh, I guess I don’t need that many,” he said, flushing a bit. He pulled out one. “Just four, two for you and two for me,” he said and zipped it up. “Okay I’m ready.”

Smiling, Grimmjow reached for his hand. Ichigo grabbed it and squeezed. “Alright, let’s go.”

They drove to the campground where they were meeting up. It wasn’t very far out of town, but it was far enough to be out of the city lights, so the sky was rather clear and bright.

“It’s so weird to see so many stars,” Ichigo said as he got out of the car and looked up. It was already past eight, so they were coming out.  

They heard another car coming into the parking lot and saw Renji’s SUV with the others. Ichigo waved and watched as everyone got out of the car.

“Yo,” Renji said as he got out and went around to the back to grab the supplies.

“Need some help?” Grimmjow asked as he walked around the end of the car.

“Sure, here,” he said as he handed him a bag of chips.

Ichigo went over to the clearing with Orihime and Rukia. Rukia had a large blanket that they were going to spread out on the ground. He helped her get it all situated and by then, Renji, Grimmjow, and Uryū came over with the rest of the stuff for the picnic.

After they got everyone passed out and settled in, everyone had a sandwich that Rukia had made, and some teacakes that Orihime had baked. There was some trepidation about that, because Orihime had some decidedly odd tastes, but these were strawberry and cream flavored. They chatted about school and how things were going.

“So, have you and Orihime gone on any fun dates yet?” Rukia asked Uryū as she ate her teacake.

Uryū adjusted his glasses up his nose. “We’ve gone out to eat a couple times, but nowhere really special yet. With school and all, it’s been too busy.”

“Uryū took me to a really nice little café, though,” Orihime said with a broad smile. “It was such a cute little place.”

Ichigo was still picking at his sandwich when Grimmjow glanced over at him. He frowned and reached over and squeezed his thigh. He looked up, knowing he’d been caught avoiding eating.

“Ichigo, you promised me you were going to eat tonight,” Rukia reminded him.

Orihime looked over at him. “Haven’t you been eating, Ichigo?”

“He’s been trying not to, but we’re working on it, aren’t we Ichigo?” Grimmjow said and looked at him.

“I’m just not very hungry,” he said, looking down and away from Grimmjow.

Grimmjow growled under his breath. “Ichigo. You didn’t eat much at lunch because you promised to eat tonight.”

“I just don’t want to, alright?” he said and sat the half-eaten sandwich down on the paper plate.

“Ichigo,” Rukia said, narrowing her eyes at him. “You are making a lot of promises and not keeping them. You’re going to pass out again.”

“Again?” Grimmjow said, turning to him with a scowl.

The moment she said it, Grimmjow knew he’d figured out what he was hiding from him. His shoulders tensed and he just stared down at his hands, avoiding Grimmjow’s gaze. “It wasn’t that bad,” he muttered.

Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his head. “Ichigo. You can’t keep this up. You’re going to seriously damage yourself at this rate.”

“He also said he’s still lost weight again,” Rukia said, glaring at Ichigo.

“Hey!” Ichigo said and looked at her sharply. “Only a little!”

“You’re supposed to be gaining back the weight you lost,” Grimmjow reminded him.

Uryū looked over at him. “Ichigo, it isn’t good for you to lose weight. You have been looking poor lately, I suppose that’s why.”

“Why would you want to lose weight?” Orihime asked, frowning now. “You’re so thin as it is, and you swim all the time!”

Grimmjow knew Ichigo felt on the spot because everyone was looking at him, wanting answers out of him. Renji hadn’t said anything, but he was watching him just the same as everyone else. Ichigo finally huffed and stood up, walking away from the group toward the trees. Grimmjow looked at the others and sighed.

They let Ichigo have some space as he stood over by the grove and ignored them as they continued to talk about other things for a little while longer. Finally, Rukia and Renji started packing up everything, leaving Ichigo’s tea cake for him.

“Ichigo, we’re going to go,” Rukia yelled over at him.

He waved at her over his shoulder but didn’t turn around. Grimmjow sighed and looked at her. “I’ll see if I can talk to him.”

“Alright, don’t forget to bring the blanket home, okay?” she said as she headed over to the car with the others.

Grimmjow watched them leave, then went over where Ichigo was standing and snaked his arms around his waist.

“Ya gonna stay mad?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ichigo said but didn’t move Grimmjow’s hands where they rested on his hips.

“Come on, now,” Grimmjow told him and turned him around to face him. “Don’t be like this.”

“I’ll be however I want,” he said, meeting Grimmjow’s eyes.

“Tell you what, come eat the tea cake that Orihime made, and then we’ll head home,” he said, trying to smile at little at him.

Ichigo snorted. “I don’t want to eat anything right now. I’m still mad.”

“Please? For me?” Grimmjow gave him as much of an innocent face as someone with a huge facial tattoo could.

“If I do, will you leave it alone?” he grumbled, finally reaching his arms around Grimmjow’s neck.

Grimmjow nodded. “For tonight. But we’re going to talk some more in the morning. You need to see someone, and I’m not going to take no for an answer,” Grimmjow told him.

Ichigo nodded slowly. “I’m sorry I’m not strong enough to do this alone,” he whispered.

“Don’t. Ichi-babe, you gotta know it’s not just you alone. I’m here, and so are your other friends. Everyone wants to see you be happy and healthy. And what you’re doing isn’t healthy at all, but it isn’t your fault, and you can get help from a professional.” Grimmjow threaded his fingers through his hair thoughtfully.

“But I don’t want to talk to a stranger,” he said, sighing in defeat.

“I know, but you need to. We’ll find someone, and you can go see them. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to go back, okay? And we’ll keep looking for someone you do like until we find a good match,” Grimmjow said gently, smiling at him.

He nodded slowly and Grimmjow kissed his forehead. Ichigo turned his face up and met his lips. It started as a chaste kiss, but it soon deepened into more than that, both of them panting for breath when they broke apart.

“Ah, hell. I’m not waiting until we get home,” Grimmjow muttered and began pulling Ichigo over to the blanket again.

Ichigo, a little shocked, was pulled along until they were standing on the blanket together. “Wait, here?” he asked, eyes widening a little.

“I brought the lube. I put it in your bag,” Grimmjow said, turning toward the back and fishing out the small bottle from the bag and slipping it into his pocket.

“You planned this!” Ichigo exclaimed, glaring at him. “You said you didn’t want to have sex outside!”

“Sorry, I just can’t wait, come here, it won’t be that bad. The ground’s not too hard here on the blanket. And we can wash the blanket before we give it back to Rukia,” he said and reached for the button on Ichigo’s jeans.

Ichigo stammered, “But what if someone sees us!”

“It’s almost midnight, and the stars are the only witnesses out here now,” he said, quickly sliding the pants off Ichigo’s hips.

Ichigo looked like he wanted to argue, but Grimmjow leaned down and engaged him in another kiss that quickly turned heated again, and as he brushed up against him, he could feel that he’d definitely acquired his interest. He slipped a hand down over the outside of his shorts and palmed him through them.

“Look at you, my good slut. Already getting all wet for me,” he muttered. At his words he felt him twitch and he grinned again.

Ichigo whimpered a little but moved to put his arms around Grimmjow’s neck and kissed him again. This time, as they kissed, Grimmjow slid the shorts over his hips to let them fall down his legs.

“It’s cold out here,” Ichigo mumbled against his lips. “I’m going to freeze.”

“Just a minute, and I’ll warm ya up,” Grimmjow said and reached behind to squeeze his ass with both hands.

Ichigo fell into him and Grimmjow was next lowering them to the ground slowly. He was already hard in his own jeans and wanted nothing more than to turn Ichigo around and slam his cock into him as hard as he could. But he’d be a little considerate of him, and at least prepare him with the lube before he fucked him.

He undid his jeans and Ichigo moved around to look up at him with those sparkling brown eyes and he growled. “Down,” he instructed and Ichigo reached over and pulled him free of the pants.

Ichigo cut his eyes up at him as he leaned down and took him into his mouth slowly. Grimmjow growled low in his throat again and watched as he bobbed his head down on him, taking him down about halfway. It was good, but he could do better, Grimmjow knew. He buried both hands in his hair and shoved his head down hard until he felt his cock slide down into his throat. He heard him sputter a bit, and felt his throat constrict on him.

“Good, good slut. You like my cock?” he muttered as he dragged his head up and off of him.

Ichigo looked at him with watering eyes and a panting, wet mouth. It was all too much as Grimmjow shoved him back down again. He waited until he started to push back harder against him and let him come up and cough a few times.

“Turn around here,” he told him and Ichigo turned away from him, dropping to his elbows and knees.

Grimmjow kicked his legs wider and slipped his cock up and down the outside of him. He felt him shiver a little and he fished the bottle of lube out of his pocket. He squeezed some out and coated himself with it, the tingly mint smell filling the air around them. He tossed the bottle to the side and then licked his lips as he stared for a minute at his ass. He smirked and drew back a hand and slapped him hard enough to make him yell out.

“What’re you doing?” Ichigo gasped.

“Having a little fun, be still,” Grimmjow muttered as he drew back again and slapped the other side just as hard. In the dim light, he could see the red handprint he’d left.

He heard Ichigo whine a little, and he knew it was affecting him. “I like playing, but I can’t wait any longer, your ass is too much for me.”

Grimmjow slid forward, nudging at him for a second before he gripped his hips and slammed into him all the way. He heard him let out a gasping moan and smiled. No one was going to hear them out here, and he was sure he could get him pretty loud if he tried. He leaned over him and reached down to stroke him a little to find him dripping profusely. That was a good sign, he thought.

“What a little slut you are, getting fucked outside at night, moaning like a bitch,” he murmured into his ear before biting at it.

Again, Ichigo let out a long drawn out moan, and Grimmjow smiled as he continued to pound into him from behind. He could already feel him tightening up on him, and he knew that he wasn’t going to last a whole lot longer. He pulled his face to the side and locked him into a kiss, reaching as much as he could into his mouth from the angle.

After a few minutes of torturing him with hard thrusts and light strokes, he was moaning and whining pretty steadily.

“Please, I need to…” he gasped out.

“Ya gonna come?” Grimmjow asked. “Don’t you dare come until I tell you to.”

He whimpered so nicely and Grimmjow pulled all the way out before slamming forward again, getting a squeaking sound out of him. He leaned over again, this time grabbing him tightly at the base, causing him to squeeze down on him harder.

“Please, please, I need…” he huffed.

“What do you need?” Grimmjow asked. “Tell me.”

“I need to come!” he begged. Again, Grimmjow thought how sweet that sound was. He smiled, releasing his cock and starting to stroke him as he thrust into him.

“What are you?” he asked as he sped up a little more.

“I’m your slut!” he answered immediately and Grimmjow knew he must be really close to answer so fast.

“Good, then come, slut,” he said as he flicked his hand faster over him.

A second more, and he felt him orgasm hard, tightening up on him until it was hard to move much. He thrust through it, pounding into him harder a few more times before he came himself. He leaned up and grabbed his hips as he held him like that for a moment before he pulled out. Ichigo collapsed onto the blanket as soon as he let go of him.

“I’ve got grass in my mouth,” Ichigo muttered and spit.

“Well, at least the bugs left us alone,” Grimmjow told him as he grabbed him up in a tight embrace.

“Now, I’m cold,” Ichigo said, and Grimmjow could feel the shivers going through his body now.

He grabbed his shorts and pants and helped him get into them before he got too much colder. Then they both laid down on the other side of the blanket on their backs. Ichigo snuggled up onto Grimmjow’s arm and stared at the sky.

“The stars are beautiful,” he whispered finally.

“I think you’re beautiful,” Grimmjow told him.

He heard Ichigo swallow noisily. “Even though I’m fucked up like this,” he said softly.

“You’re not fucked up,” he assured. “You just have a problem you need help with. That’s all.”

“I thought I could handle it alone. But I was wrong. I’m too weak,” he said and Grimmjow thought he sounded on the verge of tears.

“You’re not weak,” he said as he squeezed him closer to him. “Don’t think that way. You’ve done your best.”

“But I did this to myself. Why can’t I fix it myself?” he asked.

Grimmjow didn’t know how to answer that. “Look, you’re strong enough to have made it this far. Now, you just have to be strong enough to ask for the help you need.”

Ichigo was quiet for a while as they both stared up into the night sky. It was a comfortable silence, though. There was no need to say anything because they both knew that the path ahead was still going to be rocky.

But they would take that path together.


End file.
